I mean that it isn´t really an "evidence" for his intelligence, that he went there, has registered for the test and has failed. It would have been different if it would have been compareable to the SAT, which most students try at high school. Because then we could say, he only wanted to do this education to become gym trainer and so he sat there and made little crosses on the test anywhere, because he had no other plans this day.

Being bad in English has nothing/not much to do with being lazy. You either have the talent or you don't have it. A friend of mine is VERY bad in English, he reads very slow and doesn't always understand the words, even if they're simple, and he isn't good in pronouncing words either. In the end he had a 4 on his diploma (we work with a scale from 1(an F) to 10(A+), and 6 being average) even though he worked real hard for his English for 6 years. Me on the other hand, I'm not perfect but I got a 7 on my diploma and I didn't even had to work for it even though I'm lazy (my friends say I'm the definition of the word lazy ). It's about talent and I think you must not burn someone down because he's not good at one thing.

__________________06-05-200202-11-2004Two sad days in Dutch History!Let this never happen again!

I mean that it isn´t really an "evidence" for his intelligence, that he went there, has registered for the test and has failed.

... hence my earlier comment of him deliberately "throwing" the exam. That is, perhaps he had no desire to take the exam, and out came the result as revenge because some-one else wanted (demande) it of him.

Just curious ... how long after school - ie: how many years - did he write this exam ?

... hence my earlier comment of him deliberately "throwing" the exam. That is, perhaps he had no desire to take the exam, and out came the result as revenge because some-one else wanted (demande) it of him.

Just curious ... how long after school - ie: how many years - did he write this exam ?

... you mean, you took this test ?

It was in spring 1994...and he was born in September 1973. So he was 20 and a half years old. And he has left school after 11 years (started at 7). So he was then almost 18.

Daniel did his military service .... was then 2 years at this school for gym trainers and has then worked as trainer in several gyms in Stockholm.

ah, thanks Lena .... seems he had his career path pretty well established or thought out by the time he left his service.
interesting !
.... I wonder who and what influenced him to get into the fitness business ?

Being bad in English has nothing/not much to do with being lazy. You either have the talent or you don't have it. A friend of mine is VERY bad in English, he reads very slow and doesn't always understand the words, even if they're simple, and he isn't good in pronouncing words either. In the end he had a 4 on his diploma (we work with a scale from 1(an F) to 10(A+), and 6 being average) even though he worked real hard for his English for 6 years. Me on the other hand, I'm not perfect but I got a 7 on my diploma and I didn't even had to work for it even though I'm lazy (my friends say I'm the definition of the word lazy ). It's about talent and I think you must not burn someone down because he's not good at one thing.

I wouldn´t agree completely...even though I know what you mean...it´s for sure for some people easier and for some not. But when you for example don´t care a bit for the lessons in the very beginning it´s hard to be good. Especially in the beginning it´s important to learn the language with the other students, otherwise you can´t catch up anymore.
So far we still don´t know, how it was for Daniel Westling. But actually I hope, he was only really lazy at school...then it would be easier for him to follow the english lessons now-after he has started to become motivated.

So these days to be a "Daniel" is a profession :p Well, maybe it will become one.
Auntie (pinching Billy´s cheek): "So say me little Billy, what do you want to become, when you´re grown-up?"
Billy "Not sure, auntie Trudy, but to be a Daniel, who would satisfy the crown princess/queen... I think this sounds good"

Some "news" from Passagen debatt. Passagen debatt, or better said its subforum "Hemligt Skvaller" is a forum on gossip. So please take it with a pinch of salt (or was it "grain of salt"...here we go again...the old discussion on this phrase. :p )
And even when it´s true...about 15 years went by...one can always hope, that ppl go through a process of maturing after school...and see, what they have done wrong in the past. Of course then it´s often too late for the mobbed person, who has to fight many more years to regain her/his self confidence. :(
But again: take it with a pinch of salt and/or bear in mind, that Daniel and this guy could have been at some sort of personal feud with each other...so that both could be "blamed". Well, enough blablabla, now the story:

Det enda sensationella jag hört om honom är historien om att han skulle mobbat en kille på högstadiet.
Tror det var på nån personlig sida, där killen ifråga skrev och berättade att bilden av Daniel W inte stämmer och att han var ansvarig för att killen var rädd så fort han var i skolan... The only sensational I´ve heard about him is a story, in which it´s said, that he should have bullied a guy during the time at "högstadiet" (= highschool, which Swedish students attend between 16-19...Daniel has chosen some sort of "shortcut" and has attended it between 16 and 18) I think this was (mentioned) on a personal page...there a guy questioned what was written and told, that the image of Daniel W. is wrong and that he was responsible for the fear, that the guy felt as soon as he had entered the school...

Some "news" from Passagen debatt. Passagen debatt, or better said its subforum "Hemligt Skvaller" is a forum on gossip. So please take it with a pinch of salt (or was it "grain of salt"...here we go again...the old discussion on this phrase. :p )
And even when it´s true...about 15 years went by...one can always hope, that ppl go through a process of maturing after school...and see, what they have done wrong in the past. Of course then it´s often too late for the mobbed person, who has to fight many more years to regain her/his self confidence. :(
But again: take it with a pinch of salt and/or bear in mind, that Daniel and this guy could have been at some sort of personal feud with each other...so that both could be "blamed". Well, enough blablabla, now the story:

Det enda sensationella jag hört om honom är historien om att han skulle mobbat en kille på högstadiet.
Tror det var på nån personlig sida, där killen ifråga skrev och berättade att bilden av Daniel W inte stämmer och att han var ansvarig för att killen var rädd så fort han var i skolan... The only sensational I´ve heard about him is a story, in which it´s said, that he should have bullied a guy during the time at "högstadiet" (= highschool, which Swedish students attend between 16-19...Daniel has chosen some sort of "shortcut" and has attended it between 16 and 18) I think this was (mentioned) on a personal page...there a guy questioned what was written and told, that the image of Daniel W. is wrong and that he was responsible for the fear, that the guy felt as soon as he had entered the school...

Daniel a school bully? He looks like he couldn't hurt a fly (from his looks now of course).:)

Anybody, no matter what size or appearance, is capable of being a bully. The sad truth is, most people were either bullies or were bullied themselves at some stage of their schooling, so these rumours could very well be true. However, what we don't know is why Daniel allegedly bullied this other guy. Not that I approve of violence ( ) but maybe the other guy 'deserved' it. Who knows. As you said Lena, we can only hope that Daniel has matured. Maybe being a gym owner has allowed him to channel his 'aggression' into something more productive.

Little preview: Pappa Olle is proud of his two children.
And the mystery around Benny seems solved: He sold his shares to Daniel (and two other guys, who own each 15%), but he still works at MT. An (so called) insider says, that Benny and Daniel don´t deal with each other as much as before.

Here is the translation of the before mentioned article "Skilda världar"
For me it included not much new. But I guess for the people, who wonder about Daniel´s pre-victorian life, it´s quite interesting.

Parted Worlds

No array of flashy girlfriends. No wild parties in clubs. Even not a beer in a bar.
Daniel isn´t like the brats around the Stureplan.
The court is lucky to get such a great guy, says one, who was his team leader for many years at Hofors ice hockey club.
Victoria´s birth was news all over the world. Daniel´s birth, a few year earlier, was only news for the closest. Shortly after his birth the family moved to an apartment in the new built suburb Bojsenburg in the north of Falun. Father Olle worked 1977 as surveyor for the youth welfare service. The father of the new born Victoria was king over Sweden and her family lived in the Royal palace in Stockholm.
The king got then an yearly apanage of 15.7 million Swedish crowns. This means 1.3 million a month. Olle Westling had gotten at this time a wage raise and earned 4949 crowns a month.
One year later family Westling moved to Ockelbo -favourite haunt in Gästrikland-as the municipality calls itself. Daniel´s father made career in the municipal administration and in 1981 the family could live in an own house.

Got an own sleeping room

Daniel and his big sister Anna got own sleeping rooms in the new built 140 square meters big row house at the Smältvägen, a place with many children in the south part of the town. In the same year Victoria moved to Drottninholm castle
The succession was changed around this time and Victoria became crown princess.
Daniel Westling went from the first to the ninth grade to the local school of Ockelbo. His best friend was his classmate Andreas Nylin. He is one of the old friends, who got the chance to meet Victoria. His wedding in 2002 got a Royal touch, when Daniel Westling came together with Victoria.
Most spare time-consuming was sports. He played soccer in Ockelbo´s boy league and started with Basketball and ice hockey.

Basic high school programme

During his teenage years sports took more and more of his time, and so his final grades at the Perslunda school were nothing to cheer on. He got lower grades in three subjects and went off with mainly 3s. He only got a 5 in his favourite subject Sports. The other favourite subject was "Our daily life"-an optional subject, that Daniel had chosen during his whole time at junior high school. In this course he learnt among other things how to cook. When Daniel left junior high school, Victoria finished the 5th grade of the Ålstens school in Bromma. She was Duchess of Västergötland and the court had already started to plan, how she should be prepared and educated as successor.
Victoria suffered, just like the king, from dyslexia and needed much more time for writing, reading and homework than her classmates. But she had all imaginable help from the court. For Daniel such a golden life didn´t exist. Ockelbo even hadn´t a senior high school. After junior high school Daniel started at the Hammnar gymnasiet in Sandviken. He chose the 2 year long social line without a second foreign language and with basic english. Per Åslund from Sandviken attended the same class as Daniel and the two became best friends.
"We shared the interest for sports", Per Åslund says. "He played soccer and hockey and practised weight training already then""Did he tell, what he wanted to do in the future?""It was pretty clear, that it would be something with sports, PE teacher or something like that"
According to Per Åslund Daniel Westling was popular among the girls at school. "He was interested in fashion, mainly in a sporty style. One got to hear, that many thought, he was both, pleasant and good looking.""Was he together with a girl""This wasn´t common at this time""Were you surprised, when you got to hear, that he´s together with the crown princess?""Yes, of course one was surprised. But at the same time (I would say) when one in the class had the potential, than him.

Star of the Hockey team

The high school parties were held at the hotel Princess in Sandviken."Beer was drunken. But Daniel never drank, this was a little bit unusual", says Per Åslund"He drank no alcohol at all. But then again he was the one, who was most go-ahead."
Daniel left the two year long programme with an grade point average of 3.07. Crown princess Victoria left the seventh grade the same year. This was her first year at the private Enskilda gymnasiet in Stockholm. One year later she was confirmed in the Räpplinge church on Öland. Then Daniel Westling was recruited as rookie at regiment I14 in Gävle. But he never finished this education."We started as recruits of the company, but we both changed, since it wasn´t possible to combine this with sports. One missed training too often", says Daniel´s friend Johan Stark.
Daniel Westling almost shuttled between I14 and the Hockey Arena in Hofors.
He was winger and was regarded as one of the better players in the team.

Top grades in the military service.

There wasn´t much time left for spare time and partying."I´ve never seen Daniel drunk. He was out with us , but all time dry"
Just like during his teenage years Daniel wasn´t often seen with women.
"I can´t remember, that he had a girlfriend, when we were in the military service", says Johan Stark, who went to the same school as Daniel.
School work wasn´t Daniel´s thing, so much the better he was as recruit. He demobbed 1993 with the top grades 10-9-8
The following year Daniel Westling got a place in Lillsveds sports college in Värmdö near Stockholm. He got educated for being a recreation instructor/advisor for sports.
"We studied together. This was nearly my best year in life", says Peter Hyttinen, 32.
Life wasn´t just studying, but also parties, for which Daniel and the others got dressed up. But in the opposite to many other students Daniel Westling was nearly always dry. And he was never seen together with women.
"What I remember he had no girlfriend at the school", says Peter Hyttinen.
1996, the year in which Daniel Westling left Lillsveds sports college, crown princess Victoria got her degree at the Ensikilda gymnasiet . She went off with an grade point average of 4.8. In the opposite to Daniel Westling Victoria got special tuition. In the end she was judged with distinction and got as motivation: "Very good results and very good performances in art"
The kisses on the cheeks seemed to find no end.

Became Victoria´s trainer

In the evening a student party waited at Ulriksdal castle. The guests arrived by boat, which docked at the castle´s private bridge. This autumn Daniel tried to cope with Stockholm´s housing market. He got a roof over his head by renting an apartment in Polhemsgatan on Kungsholmen (the king´s islet), but there he stayed just three months, then it was time to move.
For the crown princess life was easier. She got a 2-room apartment at Drottningholm castle. In the late 90ties Victoria crisscrossed the world. She carried out a placement at the UN in New York and in 1999 one at Sweden´s embassy in Washington DC
This year Daniel Westling and his buddy Benny Johansson bought the gym Master Training in the Regeringsgatan in Stockholm. Both had worked as personal trainer and wanted to start an own project. Victoria´s big love was then an other Daniel-an young man from the wealthy family Collert. But Daniel Westling had already started social climbing-both, in a social and economic way. Through the gym he got in contact with managing directors and the heads of the business world.
Princess Madeleine trained there and recommended her elder sister to work out there. In 2001 Daniel Westling became Victoria´s personal trainer. The trainer/customer-relationship changed little by little to a relationship of love.
Now the athletic guy from Ockelbo is on the best way to become a prince, and the son-in-law of the king.
"The court is lucky to get such a great guy. One can just congratulate them" says the former team leader of Hofor´s Ice Hockey club, Rolf Larsson."Danne is a guy from the country side, one has to watch out for. He is eager to learn and this was never a big deal for him"

Little explanations:
In Sweden one has to attend school from grade 1 to grade 9. Grade 1 starts at 7 years.
When I talk in the text about junior high school, than I mean the so called "Högstadiet", which goes from grade 7-9.
When I talk about high school, I mean grade 10-12 of the so called "gymnasiet". These years are voluntarily...but you need them for most studies at university. Daniel attended the gymnasiet only from grade 10-11 and also graduated. But as I´ve heard this way isn´t very common in Sweden and I guess for popular studies at university you need to fulfill 12 years of school.

To the grades. Roughly said:
5= the US-american A
4= B
3= C
4= D
1= F

One Swedish crown (SEK)= 0.13 US Dollar
So 15.3 mio SEK= 1.990.466 $
1.3 mio SEK= 165.000 $
4949 SEK= 627 $
In fact one can´t compare the rate from 1977 with today´s rates. But at least you get an idea.

Little explanations:
In Sweden one has to attend school from grade 1 to grade 9. Grade 1 starts at 7 years.
When I talk in the text about junior high school, than I mean the so called "Högstadiet", which goes from grade 7-9.
When I talk about high school, I mean grade 10-12 of the so called "gymnasiet". These years are voluntarily...but you need them for most studies at university. Daniel attended the gymnasiet only from grade 10-11 and also graduated. But as I´ve heard this way isn´t very common in Sweden and I guess for popular studies at university you need to fulfill 12 years of school.

To the grades. Roughly said:
5= the US-american A
4= B
3= C
4= D
1= F

One Swedish crown (SEK)= 0.13 US Dollar
So 15.3 mio SEK= 1.990.466 $
1.3 mio SEK= 165.000 $
4949 SEK= 627 $
In fact one can´t compare the rate from 1977 with today´s rates. But at least you get an idea.

The street names:
The ending "gatan"= street
The ending "vägen"= lane

School:The conclutions about scool and the gradigsystem is incorrect. In "gymnasiet" (High school) at the time when Mr Westling completed his studies there were possibilitys studying two-, three- or four years. For some studys/educations on higher level, even University, one needed two years in gymnasiet and for others tree. Four years studies in gymnasiet did lead to vocational training.

About grades 5 - 1 one can't say 1 is a failure. If a student did't passed they did have " - " (stroke, slate clean). 3 in Sweden is the sam as "national average". (We have national tests and out of them grades can change a bit from one Year to another, in the best conceivable manner depending on national results.

The grading system in "High school" (Gymnasiet) nowdays have changed. Its:MVG (very well done)VG (Well done)G (done=passed, carrying out a programme)EG (invalid results - in a certain programme)

EconomyOne can't compare pears and apples. You must look at rates, costs into a certain country, how much a certain value costs etc. etc. the same Year. If one shall try comparing one must look at the same thing - the same year.

School:The conclutions about scool and the gradigsystem is incorrect. In "gymnasiet" (High school) at the time when Mr Westling completed his studies there were possibilitys studying two-, three- or four years. For some studys/educations on higher level, even University, one needed two years in gymnasiet and for others tree. Four years studies in gymnasiet did lead to vocational training.

About grades 5 - 1 one can't say 1 is a failure. If a student did't passed they did have " - " (stroke, slate clean). 3 in Sweden is the sam as "national average". (We have national tests and out of them grades can change a bit from one Year to another, in the best conceivable manner depending on national results.

The grading system in "High school" (Gymnasiet) nowdays have changed. Its:MVG (very well done)VG (Well done)G (done=passed, carrying out a programme)EG (invalid results - in a certain programme)

EconomyOne can't compare pears and apples. You must look at rates, costs into a certain country, how much a certain value costs etc. etc. the same Year. If one shall try comparing one must look at the same thing - the same year.

Thank you for explaining it more detailed. I though wonder, what one could access with 2 years of gymnasiet. I guess less (and that´s what I´ve said), otherwise everyone, who did 3 years must be stupid to do so. Or the 2 year programme was something for high achievers, who completed the programme of 3 years in 2 (Germany has now a similar programme. 12 years for "good" students instead of 13)

Well, I´ve said, that one can´t compare the rates from 1977 with those from today. But as I´ve said, I wanted to give an idea.
Most young Swedes from today also don´t have an idea, what one got for 4949 SEK in 1977!